Chasing a Dream

Chasing a Dream
John and I with our LP finishers medals

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Heading out to Steelhead 70.3...feeling race-ready!

Tomorrow morning we are heading to Michigan.  I am fairly packed.  We will get the bikes loaded tonight and make the 5 hour trek to Benton Harbor.
Right now it looks like a close call as to whether the race will be wetsuit legal or not.  Lake Michigan is warmer than ever and it seems to be hovering right at 78 degrees.  I so wish I had a sleeveless wetsuit if it IS wetsuit legal.   I feel comfortable not swimming in the wetsuit, but I think John would not be very happy at all.

I love RACE EXPOS...I am so looking forward to hanging around at the expo.  I hope it is fairly large, although not sure how it will be.  I am also hoping to snatch some nice clothes.  We shall see.

So onto the race...if anyone is interested we can be tracked at ironman.com  You can search by last name 'Cymanski' 

And I am going to post my secret goals, although I have gone back and forth on putting these in writing.

I raced a 5:39 at Timberman last year.  I was very happy with my swim 34:59 and my bike 2:50, not so happy with my run 2:08.  My goal at Timberman was to break 6 hours, so I was very happy with my overall time.

My ultimate goal at Steelhead would be to break 5:30, and I will be happy with a PR.

I would like to equal my Tman swim.  I haven't worked as hard on the swim this summer as last and so will be happy if the time is close.  Steelhead is in Lake Michigan, so it seems like conditions could be much harder than swimming in the calm lake we had in Timberman.

I am hoping to beat my bike time from Tman, although I was shocked that I averaged 19.3 on the bike last year.  Tman has some hills to contend with.  Steelhead seems to be relatively flat.  But with the wind off the lake you never know about head winds.  I secretly hope to average over 20mph, but I have no idea if that is at all possible.
Mainly, I am praying for no bike malfunctions!!!!!!!

I REALLY want to beat my 2:08 on my run from Tman.  I will be REALLY happy with a 2:00 run, and I should be running UNDER 2 hours.  I have run a 3:51 marathon and qualified for Boston for goodness sake.  I have just not felt great on my runs most of the summer.  Hoping that my hamstrings cooperate.

My wave goes off at 7:18 and John's is off at 8:00.

John did a 5:16 last year at Timberman.  His swim was 38/bike was 2:46/and run was 1:47.  He was also not at all happy with his run last year.  He has run a sub-3 marathon and is looking to improve the bike and run leg at Steelhead.

John and I are going alone to Steelhead.  Last year we had our three kids there to cheer us on.  I am going to miss seeing them.  Lizzie is at Cross Country camp, Matt has to work at the bike store and Megan can't go without Matt or Liz going.  :(

I am feeling antsy from the taper.  Ready to race.  I have put in the workouts and want to see what I can do!

last year after timberman


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are going to rock this! I'll be anxious for the race report and interested to hear how you feel during all of it with being on the new eating plan this past year. I cannot even imagine trying to run a 1/2 marathon after 50 miles on a bike! BTW, I LOVE your wetsuite photo...you need to frame that one!

Jon said...

Good luck this weekend! I have no doubts that you will PR this distance. Looking forward to reading the race report!

Krista said...

Have a great time this weekend and enjoy the race! You have prepared well and are going to do great!

Hazel said...

Good luck, Barb and John! I'll be tracking you and sending speedy vibes your way!